my employer wants mexicans because:

[pdurod1]

1) most American kids are TOO affluent to work at our company.

2) He's seen stuff happen with people who piss off union people. And now is anti-union. Nail in the tire thing, clocking out in a line, 15 minutes early.

3) They have a work ethic that Americans became Ameicans for.

The best skill I can get now is learning and speaking Spanish.

HELP me think this out!!

[Historic NY]

1. They will do the jobs that otherwise will go undone because......

most Americans think certain jobs are beneath them.

[ultraist]

9. I'm not so sure that's true

I don't think that's necessarily true. We have a very large blue collar and working class and 12% of our population lives in poverty. Only 23% of Americans earn bachelor's degrees. The median income is 54,000 and only about 7% of the population earns over $150,000 annually. Our umemployment rate is not very good right now.

I think what's happening is that the employers are hiring Mexicans because they will accept a lower wage, not ask for health care and have virtually no rights. In my state, the corporate farms LOVE to hire migrant workers because they know they can exploit them and their Mexican employees will NOT call OSHA, the police, the labor department, make a claim on workman's comp or file for unemployment (which jacks up employers rates).

[Jack_DeLeon]

2. Mexicans = the future of America...

[Not_Giving_Up]

3. I feel your pain

I work for a landscaper...Both crews are illegals with the exception of one guy.

I got a Spanish program for my puter for xmas from my parents. I took two years in high school, but have gotten quite rusty.

[Change has come]

7. I've done Landscaping too...

Those men do know how to work.

[Not_Giving_Up]

12. I'm not saying that they don't do a good job

Tell me what is wrong with this picture.

They have no driver's licenses, but drive company trucks, sometimes home for the night.

If they get a speeding ticket, the boss hires an attorney to make it go away.

There are guy on the crew that the bosses don't even know the first names of.

They are paid in cash weekly, no taxes paid by the employer.

[burrowowl]

4. I'm part Mexican

and can't get a 'higher' paying job. I'm a tech writer.

[pdurod1]

5. I tried that too

Chem degree, IS minor -- outsource to India

[RandomKoolzip]

6. I work in the food service industry as a cook.

It's nearly impossible for a gringo to get hired as anything but a server because we ask for too much money. I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but that's the situation.

I was lucky that I found a chef who wanted staff members who spoke English as a first language. He didn't even mind that I asked for a semi-living wage.

Most of the Hispanic employees I've worked with (They're not all Mexicans, BTW, and some get offended if you group them in the same category) have been great people and they work hard and NEVER complain. Most of them work two or three jobs for far less than I would ask for....And they don't even care about health insurance. They are the dream workforce of the GOP. (I'm sorry if this sounds racist; I wish the Hispanic cooks and dishwashers would START asking for more money and not just accept whatever pittance the boss hands down; maybe then the cheap fucks who run things would have to raise the wages across the board.)

Anyhow: the best books to read if you want to understand this situation are "No Logo" by Naomi Klein and "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich. I recommend both heartily.

[Lexingtonian]

8. yeah....

1).... which has absolutely nothing to do with Mexican illegals being desperate enough to work at lower wages, and can get most of their dependent relatives through on lesser amounts because Mexico is a lot cheaper to live in.
2) Then again, a sneeze will do as an excuse for an employer to be anti-union.
3).... though we should point out that an awful lot of immigrants got 40 acres of land more out of their work than employers will tolerate today, and most employers have conveniently forgotten about that oldest of incentives and courtesies- profit sharing.

[oasis]

10. Your attack on "union people" did not go unnoticed. I'll help you to

think that out.

[Cleita]

11. We need laws that protect a living wage for all workers.

I seldom agree with Pat Buchanan, but I do on this issue. If minimum wage was raised to $12 an hour, with some benefits, Americans would probably be more willing to take the jobs, but also the illegals would make the same money. I also support a bracero program for those seasonal workers with the stipulation that they receive the same wages and benefits as Americans while they are here. There still would be a need for immigrant labor.

Since most jobs seem to have gone overseas with the exception of the service jobs, it's time to make those jobs pay a living wage. Remember, there was a time that carpenters, painters, and plumbers made dirt poor wages until they got unionized. It can happen at Walmart and the local service industries like restaurants and hotels.

[pdurod1]

13. yep, they talked about H2b employees,

what are the caps for H1b and H2b?

anyone?

[pdurod1]

14. I Agree

Then I might not have to look for another nite job to pay for the mortgage and car.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. The way to solve the "illegal" problem is to go after the employers

Anyone who thinks he has to pay employees $3 an hour to make money is either a lousy business person or a greedhead whose definition of "enough" is sky-high.

Illegal immigrants will keep coming until the supply of illegal jobs dries up. Businesses that hire undocumented workers should have draconian fines levied on them, so that there is no financial advantage to hiring at less than minimum wage.

With regard to the original post,

1) Your employer isn't paying enough to get Americans to work.

2) And how did he piss off the union people? I've observed that it's the worst employers who resist unionization, because they're greedheads and don't want to share the proceeds with the people who do the actual day-to-day work that makes their business possible. Enlightened employers either work with the unions or treat their workers so well that they don't even think of calling in a union.

3) People tend not to have much of a work ethic if they feel underpaid and unappreciated and have no opportunities for advancement. They may have lost the work ethic in the sense of believing that work is a virtue in and of itself, but isn't it actually more sensible to work hard only when you're actually going to gain something by it?

[pdurod1]

16. I Agree, I worked for 3.25/hour in 1980 it sucked

1) They have the upper hand

2) He didn't piss off the union people, he watched it happen

3) "Labor controls wealth" sorry to get communist on you but it's true and the same with Facsism" Labor controls this sh8t.

laterness
-P

[Sirveri]

17. I love it.

But at the same time, maybe he's not a 'greedhead'? I mean seriously, could you compete with a company that mass produces products with slave labor from china? We really need to get our trade balance in order, but I'm not really sure how to do it without making CEO's stop taking 20 Million dollar paychecks.